Clive and Claire were in front of the mayor’s house and they knocked on the door. The door was opened and the one to receive them was Dylan. Since it was the middle of the night Dylan had his sword on him when he opened the door. Even if everyone in the village knew each other it was better to be safe than sorry so Dylan had his sword with him when he answered the door.

“Oh, it’s just Clive and Claire. What are you guys doing here so late.”

“Is the mayor still awake, we need to talk to him.”

“Yeah he’s awake. Come on in.”

Seeing the expression on their face, Dylan got Eliza to go sleep with Leo for the night. The mayor came over and saw both Claire and Clive’s serious expression.

“What’s wrong did something happen.”

“Do you guys have an empty room we can talk in.”

“Yeah we have an empty bedroom in the back.”

The four of them all walked towards the empty bedroom. After entering they locked the door and checked if the windows were locked. The room was bare of all decorations. The only thing in it was a bed, a desk, and table with a few chairs. Since the chairs weren’t enough Dylan went to go get another one.

“Claire can you lock down the room.”

“Yeah I got it. ‘All sounds are deaf to the ears of those outside. In this room only our ears will hear [Lock]’.”

Claire put her hand on the ground and said a small incantation to activate her magic. As soon as she said her incantation a magic circle appeared on the ground, roof, and on all of the walls. Everything they spoke in the room was only to be known to the four of them and no one else.

“If you guys are taking such drastic measures then what you guys are about to say must be very important then. So what is it.”

“Today Kan came home and he said he met a mysterious lady in black.”

“Kan also revealed that that lady had given him letters to give us.”

“What were in those letters.”

“We still haven’t looked at them yet. We wanted you to also see them mayor.”

“Ok, let’s open them and see what it says.”

“Wait grandfather, Clive, Claire, have you guys checked if there is a trap in the letters.”

“We were also worried about that earlier so I had already checked the fluctuations of mana in the letters. There was nothing special about the letters except its contents.”

The atmosphere in the room was stiff. Everything was silent as Claire slowly took the letters out of the black envelope. Their were two envelopes and one was black while the other was white. They had chosen the black envelope because it was a rarely used type of envelope that is only used to signify the urgency or importance of the letter. The contents of the letter was short and simple but contain a powerful message.

Give us Claire Renner

or be exterminated.

Bring her to

the Capital.

“THOSE GODDAMN FOOLS!!!”

The mayor had slammed his hand against the table and shattered it. He was truly angry which was unlike him since he always acted calm and collected as the mayor of Clear View.

“Calm down grandfather. Being angry does us no good.”

The mayor wasn’t the only one angry at the situation. Clive was infuriated. The veins on his head could clearly be seen and his hand was clinched into a fist. If the mayor hadn’t been the one in an outburst, it would have been him. Seeing the mayor get angry on their behalf made Clive less angry at the situation. Claire also slowly held onto Clive’s hand to calm him down.

“Those dickless men in the capital have already fallen into the grasp of the other kingdoms. If Jonathan was still here this situation would have never happened.”

“If only my father was still the military leader, the city-state of Key would never be this weak and submissive to other kingdoms.”

“Hey Clive do you know which kingdoms are after Claire or how many of them.”

“I don’t know dylan. The Kingdom of Spears and Kingdom of Shields are the most suspicious ones for now. It would be great if it was only those two kingdoms since Claire and I would be able to escape but the problem is that we don’t know if there are more.”

The room was once again silent. Everyone was each in their own thoughts about the situation. The only thing that broke the silence was the silent sobs of Claire.

“I’m...i’m so sorry everyone. It’s my fault that you guys are all involved in this. It’s my fault that Clear View is going to be involved. I...I...i’m so sorry.”

“Come here Claire. It’s not your fault. I’ve loved you since the first day I met you and I will stop at nothing to protect you.”

Clive had bought Claire into his embrace and for Claire she silently sobbed within his embrace. Even though she is usually a strong and confident woman, the weight on her shoulders were too much to bear.

“It’s ok little girl. Both your father and grandfather left you in my care so no matter what, i’ll do whatever to protect you. Don’t cry because of the family you were born in, be proud of it. You are Claire Renner, the last princess of the Royal Family of the Kingdom of Key.”

Claire silently sobbed until she collected her emotions. Her eyes were bit puffy from crying and her nose a bit red from sniffling.

“Thank you all. Let’s see what’s in the next letter.”

Hello, if you are reading this letter then I am assuming you are

either Clive Lock or Claire Lock. It was quite a coincidence that

I was assigned to deliver the letter of threat to you. I just have to say

that I am on your side. I know you are wondering who I am but I am

sorry that I can not tell you my name. All I can say is that I owe

Jonathan Lock a favor. Yes, Jonathan Lock is still alive but he is not in

the city-state of Key right now. He is on a journey in order to find clues

about the former royalty of the Kingdom of Key. Onto the main topic.

The current ruler of the city-state of Key is allowing the other kingdoms

to attack Clear View. I do not know which kingdoms are attacking

but I do know that within the next 5 years or so the city-state of Key

is going to write off Clear View’s disappearance as a natural disaster.

Whatever you guys decide to do, good luck.

After reading over the letter everyone in the room was shocked at its contents. Jonathan was alive, the city-state of Key had betrayed them, and the village of Clear View was going to be attacked within the next 5 years. All of these shocking events was to much to digest.

“What should we do for the future?”

The mayor posed this question for all of them but none of them had an answer. All they could do was think about it. Dylan was the first one to speak up.

“What if Clive, Claire, and Kan run away from the village?”

“We can’t do that. From what the second letter says, it has already been decided that Clear View is doomed. Even if we run away we can’t abandon Clear View. It is where all our friends and family are.”

“This is quite a tough situation to overcome. If they run they are threatened with the destruction of the village but if they stay the village is also doomed.”

“Why don’t we evacuate the entire village then.”

“If we do evacuate where would we even go to. Most of the villagers were born and grown in Clear View, there will probably be many who would refuse to abandon it. The closest village is about 2 days away from us and that is by carriage. The estimate time to arrive their on foot would take at least 4-5 days but evacuating an entire village of a few hundred would take even longer. There is also no guarantee that the village of Iron will accept us.”

“Isn’t it hopeless then grandfather.”

Everyone was stumped, this ordeal may be the hardest event Clear View has ever faced. Clear View had overcome many emergencies in the past but the scale of this one was levels above what they had faced in the past.

“Dylan, Claire, and Clive, I believe our only option is to fight. If we fight we may be able to find a ray of light in all this darkness. Even if we can not win this battle, in the confusion we may be able to allow everyone else to escape while we of the older generation fight off the intruders. What do you guys think of this option.”

Everyone’s face was grim as the mayor told them of his plan. He was telling them that him and a few old friends would sacrifice their lives to allow the younger men and women to escape with their children.

“If worse comes to worse we will rely on that plan but since we have a few years left until the attack, let’s come up with other plans.”

“Let’s wrap this discussion up then everyone. We have been talking for a few hours and I think everyone here needs some rest.”

“Yeah we do. Ok then Mayor, Dylan. Claire and I will get going now then.”

“Have a good night Clive and Claire.”

“Yeah you too Dylan.”

On this calm and quiet night none of the four of them could sleep easily. What they had just learned kept all of them up at night. They were worried about their future and the future of their family. Their lives were going to get complicated in the near future.